


An emotional meeting and a waterfall

by Skyinou



Series: Wants, Needs, Help, and a whole lot of trouble. [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28164642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyinou/pseuds/Skyinou
Summary: The war just ended. Prime's defeated, but there is much to do, and the queen won't go to bed before making Adora tell her part of the story.A long meeting, more emotions than she asked for.And a waterfall.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Wants, Needs, Help, and a whole lot of trouble. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056884
Comments: 2
Kudos: 86





	An emotional meeting and a waterfall

**Author's Note:**

> Fluff but a lot of emotions first.  
> Just a bit of hotness and warmth.  
> Tame Catra. But come on, her girlfriend is a strong idiot, who transforms into an even stronger mountain of muscles, clumsy and kind. And said girlfriend just saved her from death and from herself a few days ago. Who wouldn't melt like chocolate in those arms?  
> 

Prime is gone, and there is much to do. Glimmer is happy, right now, contemplating the battlefield where they fought not even an hour ago, Bow’s arms around her waist, hugging her slightly from behind. The land, barren earlier, is now flourishing with green leaves and grass and colourful flowers, adding to the emotion and feeling of peace. But as they allow themselves a moment of simple celebration, laughs and cheers, the euphoric atmosphere is quickly turning into chaos. Princesses are running around, jostling eachother, showing off the new strength of their powers now that the magic is running freely, clones and robots are wandering aimlessly, glances are thrown against them, Hordak, and Catra. The Princess Alliance did won the day. And there is lots left to do. And she’s queen. And curious of what exactly happened.

Therefore, after a firm squeeze on Bow’s wrists, as to tell him she regrets parting with the embrace, she takes matters into her own queen’s hands. She quickly organises groups and tasks, schedules and plans. Thankfully, her teleportation is easier now. She knows she will still have to deal with a stronger backlash of soreness, fatigue and light headedness. But there is work to do, and something she just won’t give up on before going to bed – having the others, mostly Adora, narrate their side of the battle.

\-----

Herself and the other princesses are to make sure everyone got the word of Prime’s defeat. The last thing they want, is people turning on each other, frightened, trying to appease the tyrant. They are also to check that every town has someone calm in charge and that reconstruction efforts can wait until tomorrow.

The clones are to be rounded up and gathered into a single Spire, shepherd by the two Hordaks and monitored by Entrapta, mostly interested by the opportunity of staying close to Hordak and all the tech, and Micah, eager to serve his queen _\- erm, spoil his daughter, really._

Castaspella is to evaluate the effect of the freed magic, with the help of other sorcerers in Mystacor. They need to know what to expect in the days to come.

Sea Hawk and other rebellion members are to ascertain food supplies and other necessities. Also confirming the deactivated state of all robots and drones.

Bow is sent to Bright Moon, to inspect the state of the castle, preparing for the _unavoidable, even if it has to be in the middle of the night,_ Princess Alliance meeting.

Adora and Catra are to do nothing big! Last thing they want today is a giant princess running around in a help-everyone workaholic frenzy. Plus the queen doesn’t want an ex Horde Force Captain showing herself free and happy to random people, not yet. Therefore they are to help Entrapta with her new project – taking robots and drones apart to gather enough communication components to set up a wide net all over Etheria. _I mean, come on, fancy scrolls and messengers are great, but being able to talk to other princesses directly from their kingdoms?_

Once all tasks are taken care of, the queen is to gather the princesses and Catra back to Bright Moon for the mentioned meeting.

\-----

And so are the queen’s orders. As exhausted as they feel now that the adrenaline is setting down, it’s still not even noon as they depart. Luckily, as weird as it sounds, Prime was a control freak. His defeat means that everything he was doing stopped. Inactive robots and drones, Spire not functioning anymore, ships not responding, neither gone nor threatening according to Entrapta. There is a sense of calm and peace, and everybody agrees to their tasks. 

Glimmer drops Bow off in Bright Moon castle’s gardens, not wanting to guess how safe the inside of the building is, before she disappears in a flourish of pink lights. The Castle seems pretty intact. It’s not surprising, since the rebellion left it pretty fast and Prime probably didn’t want to risk destroying the Moonstone before a chance to study it. As Bow makes his way inside, he’s soon greeted by general Juliet. The trained soldier, composed as always, has already taken control of things. A handful of guards are examining the safety and usability of the rooms, and as soon as she can, she sends more and more down to the town below to help the people who had left take back possession of their home or improvising temporary repairs. Bow is swiftly carried by her pace and starts getting things done too.

Catra is happy, but annoyed. She feels she’s been that way since Adora took her back from Prime’s grasp. She finally thought she could get a peaceful moment alone with Adora, since Sparkles didn’t even try do give them different tasks, but as usual with those reckless princesses, things go spiralling out of control and lots of improvising is needed. Catra is quick, strong willed, she can show great improvising skills – but if she’s honest, she can only calm down with things carefully planned and thought through. She had spent so many years honing her defiant attitude, learning exactly how many rules she could break before the punishment would be too great, how much adventure she could dream of before the disappointment would take her down for good. Of course she likes the excitement that gives her, but right now she wants to relax.

Her eyes fall on the scene before her, sighing deeply. Some robots, that Entrapta is messing around with, are running around, punching the air aimlessly, pursued by a frantic She-Ra, trying to take them down _without breaking them_. Entrapta’s request. She-Ra isn’t good at it. Catra looks down at the drone she is meticulously dismantling for some precise components. Entrapta’s request. She’s not good at it either.

And so the afternoon is spent, without much time to talk, until it’s time for the awaited meeting. Pink lights announcing her like heralds, Glimmer appears as the group is finally taking a short break, things under control once more. Entrapta refuses to come with them, way too excited by her new toys, and the queen ultimately gives up when Entrapta gives her a trackpad with which they can communicate later.

Upon arrival before Bright Moon castle, Adora finds her hand suddenly gripped strongly by an unsteady hand. She knows that Catra hates being teleported, something about her inner ears being more sensitive making her dizzy and disoriented when suddenly changing space, Entrapta said. Adora leans down, ready to help her get up, when she notices that Catra is frozen in place, staring at a near wall. There are a few large scorched impacts on it, from a previous Horde attack. Not Prime’s.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it today! We _won’t_ talk about it today.” Glimmer says as she sees the two stuck there. She guides them to the meeting room, and shortly after all the members are gathered. The princesses take a seat, apparently not having assigned chairs, by the look of Perfuma and Mermista arguing shortly for the same one, except for one being taller, the queen’s – or more relevantly, the leader of the Princess Alliance. Bow is standing, right next to Glimmer, having set on letting only the princesses being seated. And so Catra is left standing too, but pressed even more closely to Adora.

\-----

Before the meeting starts, Glimmer exchanges some instructions and reports with Juliet about one or other princess, making sure every urgent matter is taken care of.

“Wait, how many princesses are there?” Adora asks standing up, both hand on the table, upon hearing names she hasn’t heard before. She can hear a few sighs around the table.

“Forty-two.” Glimmer, Frosta and Catra answer perfectly in synch.

“There are so many???” Adora asks again, very surprised and beginning to feel that it’s something she should know, judging by the looks the others give her.

“Remember the whole Princess Prom? Or did you thought they were extras or something?” Frosta answers annoyed.

“Why are there so many???” Adora carries on, having a hard time grabbing the situation, or more exactly the fact that all this time she didn’t even care to ask.

“Well, because there are as many kingdoms, mostly?” Bow states, trying a more down-to-fact approach.

“Why are there so many kingdoms???”

“Hmm, they all started as a few villages, or around a bigger town.“ Bow resumes his explanation. “Gathering together to facilitate trade and diplomacy. Then some people with magic powers decided to create kingdoms with them as representatives. Apparently they weren’t interested in uniting or conquering more lands, and so the other groups, not wanting to stay in their shadows declared themselves kingdoms too. That’s why most _kingdoms_ don’t have an actual _king_. Lots of them elect a princess every few years, mostly to attend meetings and parties. Some make it a contest. They usually have a perfectly normal simple life out of those events and the rare need of diplomacy. And with the war, the princesses without powers did their best to not attract any unwanted attention.”

“Oh, okay then, everyone new?” Adora asks finally calming down.

“Not the exact number, no” Some answer.

“Of course!” Frosta says indignantly. “Who do you think had to check every and each invitations for the ball personally?”

“Right.” Adora smiles apologetically and sits back.

“I know all their names, obviously, and faces!” Glimmer adds proudly.

“Right.” Adora repeats, her smile turning into a grin at the queen’s lack of modesty. “And Catra?”

“I…” Catra begins, looking blankly down at the table. She tightens her grip on Adora’s hand she didn’t notice she had taken in her own. She can feel Adora instantly regretting her question. But she’s the one with the most regrets right now, ashamed, sorry. Catra’s voice turns into not much more than a whisper. “I was a skilled commander. I made sure to know everything I needed to know to conquer all of the kingdoms. All of Etheria.” Catra smiles bitterly. “I mean you guys made it easy. Those kingdoms with princess in name only were easy. They had no army, some didn’t even have trained guards. We simply had to come in by force, plant a flag, put some soldier in garrison, show some examples… and the kingdom was ours.” Catra ends with tears in her eyes, but she stays put, holds them back.

Adora squeezes Catra’s hand gently, enclosing it with her other hand. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Adora presses Catra to turn to her. Adora looks right into her eyes. “You are okay, now.”

Catra sniffles and wipes her eyes with the back of her free hand. She looks around at the other princesses, concerned. All she sees are solemn and understanding faces. She remembers a discussion she had with Glimmer aboard Darla after being rescued. All these people have grudges, things to blame Catra for, the kind you can’t just fist-fight away or get drank over until you forget. Yet they chose to believe in Catra, leaving her space, time, until they are ready to try and resolve them together. _Together_. The only together she had known until recently is with Adora, who’s looking at her right now with the most loving and comforting smile.

“Okay.” Catra says, takes a deep breath, then raises her head. “Now, you all stop looking at me like that, I feel weird.” She adds trying to hide her embarrassment and gratefulness. She hears chuckles, she sees smiles, or grins, kind grins.

“Okay!” Glimmer declares in a forced enthusiastic voice. “Let’s go on to the main topic of this meeting!” She pauses a second for the dramatic effect of it. “What happened at the Heart?”

Adora flinches. She’s now the one gripping Catra’s hand like her life depends on it. Adora looks nervous, pale, guilty. Her right hand has left Catra’s and is clenched in a fist, resting on her knee. Catra is torn between absolutely not wanting to talk again right now, and the feeling that she could save Adora by telling the story in her place. Glimmer blinks in surprise, which makes Adora focus again and begin to speak.

“After I… left you guys,” Adora hesitates, glancing at Glimmer and Bow from time to time, but mainly looking down at the empty table. “I found myself in the remnant of Mara’s memories. She... tried to help,” Adora carries on, choosing her words carefully, trying not to give too many details. “But before she could explain, Prime’s hack reached us. He erased her. And next thing I know I’m wounded, out of the memory, unable to keep being She-Ra. And there is this… monster giant tech worm. Thing. Ready to kill me.” Adora pauses, and looks at Catra, the way one looks at someone who just saves their life, with a soft smile. “And then out of nowhere, Catra was there, fighting it.” Adora’s smile drops and her sight fall on the table again.

“Then Shadow Weaver took me to the Heart. We arrived at a kind of magic seal. And the Failsafe was reacting to it, I just had to let it go, let it activate…” Adora speaks slowly, her voice is filled with regrets. She suddenly starts speeding up in a panic. “But then, then, I heard Catra scream, and I know she’s strong, but that thing was not normal, and I had to activate the Failsafe but maybe Catra needed me too and I had no time to go back with Prime hacking the Heart and I couldn’t let her go and I let everyone down! I turned back… I’m sorry... I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Adora is sobbing, endlessly repeating her words in the otherwise deeply silent room. 

“It’s okay, Adora. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Perfuma is the first to break the silence.

“But I risked everything for-”

“We do not sacrifice our friends!!!” Perfuma cuts her, harshly, her voice cracking as she’s not used to speak so loudly.

“But I was supposed to-”

“Of course we are grateful that you were willing to try, but nobody asked you to, nobody _ordered_ you to! You heard Perfuma. You can’t blame yourself for not abandoning a friend behind.” Bow adds more gently.

“Huurrg, it’s not like it’s even the first time you put Catra first.” Mermista interrupts, with her more-than-usual annoyed voice. Everyone turns to her questioningly. She points at Adora with both hands open in an exaggerated gesture. “She-Ra! You could have killed Catra anytime if you decided to!”

“I never went easy on Catra-”

“Maybe not on purpose,” Bow calms things down again, stopping her with a sign of his hand. “But when you got the… virus, in the Frozen Wastes, you took her down in seconds, despite going berserk. So, consciously with your military expertise? There isn’t much doubts.”

“And you are all okay with that?” Adora asks timidly.

“We do not kill our friends!!!” Perfuma exclaims again, even more frustrated than before due to the repetition. “You never stopped caring about Catra, and, it seems you were right!” Perfuma gestures at Catra standing here with them. “I had enough trouble with it when people where chipped. I know you think it’s different because of the chip, but really it’s not. A friend is a friend, as long as you think so.”

“I could only fight Spinny because I know our strength is equal. If I had yours, I would be crying right now.” Netossa adds, shivering at the thought.

Adora looks around, feeling that she’s made a big mess of something that all the others just took for granted and natural. She smiles shyly, embarrassed, chuckles nervously and looks at Catra, who swiftly turn her head away to hide the blush that had been stuck on her face for some time now.

With the atmosphere settling down, Catra is now very much aware of how she’s still holding hand with Adora, fingers intertwined, gently, lovingly, the nervousness slowly receding. And she’s now face to face with Scorpia, sitting in the next chair, looking at her, both pincer under her chin, with literal stars in her eyes screaming ‘you’re so cute!’. And Sparkles and Bow soon join Scorpia, which takes everyone attention to Catra, earning chuckles and laugh from the other princesses. It’s annoying, and kind, but annoying. She turns around, ready to defend herself, and sees the lovely expression on Adora’s face, grinning, but relaxed, at peace again and certainly blushing too. It’s still annoying, but she can live with it for now, she decides. They stare at each other for a second that feels like an hour.

“So, can we hear the end of the story?” Frosta interrupts, visibly not much interested by the idiot couple. The two straighten up, clear their throats and try to regain some kind of serious.

“Mmm, yes, then, when I got back to Catra,” Adora resumes. “Shadow Weaver was already there, fighting the monster in Catra’s place, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to feel about that, actually, because she sacrificed herself to take it down. She did a loooooot of bad things, even more to Catra, she hurt us, but she still raised us too.” Adora is stopped by a wriggle of her hand. She glances at Catra. “Right, we don’t need to go there now. So we went to the Heart, and Catra stayed with me whatever could have happened, and when Prime reached us, before the Failsafe could activate, Mara showed me a last vision of a happy future, with me alive, and Catra with me. I knew I wanted this more than anything, so when Catra reached out to me, and told me she loves me, I reached back and suddenly I could feel She-Ra again-”

Adora stops. Everyone is looking at her, confused, trying very hard not to grin, Catra’s hiding behind her chair, save for their hands still stuck together, blushing right to the tip of her ears. “Oookay, I maybe, wasn’t at all supposed to mention that part-”

“No no no! You absolutely had to!” Glimmer intervenes strongly, all smile and beam. “Please continue, and tell me aaaaaaaall the details later!”

“Well… it’s over anyway, with She-Ra back for good, I could shield both of us, activate the Failsafe, and we got out!” Adora finishes, as the others explode in cheers, playfully as if they didn’t know how it ended. “What about you?”

“Oh, you know, fought some clones, convinced Scorpia to break free long enough for me to finish Entrapta’s work.”

“I put down a lot of clones and I... had to punch some magic sense into my dad.”

“Huurrg, I owe Sea Hawk for being… himself! He’s never gonna stop bothering me about it.”

“I took out a bunch of robots with ice daggers, and then another bunch with an ice hammer!”

“Wait, you make it seems so easy and simple after my long story!” Adora stops them suddenly.

“Yeah, pretty much, yeah.” Everyone nods.

“Of course it would have been easy for you too if you had said earlier that you wanted Catra with you to the Heart, instead of nearly losing She-Ra!” Frosta says. Silence. “What? You use She-Ra the best to defend people, and when you are near Catra. So defending people _with_ Catra should have been a piece of cake!”

“That’s a good point, you did turn her away, right Adora?” Bow adds.

“No. Yes. She said she wouldn’t stay and see me sacrifice myself.”

“But you never said how much you… loved me.” Catra says in a small voice, coming from behind Adora’s chair, still hidden. “You never said you _wanted_ me, even when I asked you.”

“How was I supposed to do that, I needed to do this. I needed-”

“Who cares what you need! She asked what you wanted!” Glimmer interrupts.

“What do you know about it?!” Adora yells angrily.

“Adora!” Glimmer answers even more strongly, but her eyes are soft. “We are all princesses! More than half of our day is about what we _need_ to do, duties to keep our kingdoms running, our people happy. That’s why you tell others what you want, so when you can’t act on it, they still know you care! And you have to tell them when you can, because if you don’t...” Glimmer starts crying, her voice cracks. “If you don’t, you end up in a prison, on the other side of the universe in a stupid ship, and you are scared, filled with regrets, and you start thinking you might never have the chance to tell them again how much you love them!” She takes a deep breath, Bow is close to her, holding her hand, his other hand on her shoulder.

“I want to try having magic powers!” Bow states to lighten the atmosphere.

“I... want to know what it feels to have fingers.” Scorpia follows taking the hint.

“I want to hold a sledge competition!” Frosta continues.

“We want to have game night every nights.” Netossa and Spinnerella exclaim purposefully in sync.

“I want to hear Scorpia sing again!” Perfuma says, enthusiastically and innocently enough that nobody stops to question it right now.

“I want to have sleepovers, eat cakes for breakfast, not having to recharge, go back to space!” Glimmer finishes, and then asks rhetorically. “What do you want, Adora!”

“I want Catra.” Adora blurts out, still caught up in all the emotions, before she can stop herself. As she starts blushing furiously, trying to find an imaginary hole to hide into, Catra sprints out of the room.

Everyone starts to laugh to tears and tease her, until Glimmer regains enough composure to be able to talk again. “Come on, go bring her back, we miss her too!” She laughs again.

Catra didn’t go far, in fact she’s waiting just out of the door, back against the wall, one knee bent, both hands on her face. Adora can see that she’s still blushing and smiling, even in the dimly lit hallway.

“Hey Catra! I’m sorry I’m a bit too excited tonight?”

“Hey dummy.” Catra says, but she’s sill smiling lovingly.

“Are you ready to come back?” Adora asks, reassured that she’s okay and not angry.

“Not yet?” Catra answers. “There are things I want, too, but you know I’m a bit bad at voicing out my feelings, so be patient?” She pulls slightly at the hem of Adora’s shirt.

Adora draws near her and puts both hands on Catra’s waist. She leans forward until their forehead touch. “I know, just don’t make me wait too long, I’m hungry.” Adora freezes, winces. “hum, no, I mean, really, hungry, food, we didn’t eat anything since lunch.” She stumbles in her awkwardness. As to prove her honesty, her stomach growls.

“You’re such an idiot. Okay then. I want you to kiss m-” Catra can’t finish her sentence that Adora’s lips are already on her own. She lets slide her hand down from her chin to Adora’s neck, then gently stroke its sides with her fingers. The kiss go on for a minute, both revelling in the feeling of each other’s lips and their bodies close together. As soon as they part, Adora leans slightly and push her cheek against Catra’s, who starts to purr lightly. There is a sense of simple peace between them, something they had not the chance to feel since forever, if ever. 

“Tomorrow, you are going to Salineas, right?” Catra asks weakly.

“Yes. They need She-Ra’s strength to clear all the rubble. You know I need-”

Catra pushes Adora slightly away and puts a finger on Adora’s lips to stop her. “I know. Want me to come with you?”

“But you know it’s there that people will more probably resent you and hate you and… I’ll be back by evening anyway and there are a lot of other things you can-”

“Adora, do you _want_ me to come with you?” Catra asks again, eyes fixed to Adora’s.

“Yes.” Adora whispers, lowering her eyes, still feeling guilty for saying it.

Catra pushes herself away from the wall softly, her head landing against Adora’s chest, both arms around her in a tight hug. “Then I’ll come.”

Adora resists the urge to argue, to protect. “Is it that simple?”

“It’s easy, I just have to do it. I _need_ to face it. But it will be very complicated.” Catra answers, once more remembering some of Glimmer’s words. “I’ll need you there with me. I _want_ you there with me.”

Adora reciprocates the hug and drops her head on top of Catra’s. They stay that way a few more instants, before noises and laughters grow louder from the meeting room. “I want to stay like this with you forever, but I’m okay now. We can go back,” Catra whispers. “for now!” She adds more playfully. Adora waits a moment, moves back, takes her hand again and they make their way inside.

By the time they enter, most of the princesses are getting ready to leave. After goodbyes, way too dramatic for people who will see eachother soon if not tomorrow, due to exhaustion, stress and excess of emotions during the meeting, Glimmer starts teleporting people away. She finally reappears alone in a last flourish of pink lights. She seems really tired, even if she’s still smiling as one do after a full day of productive work.

“Shall we fiiiiiinally get dinner and sleeeep?” Glimmer asks dropping any ounce left of her queen’s mannerism.

After getting nods and an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’ from Adora in response, they make their way to a small room, not far from the kitchen. A few guards are there, finishing their meals. Having the dinning room ready obviously not a priority, they settle down at a table, and start eating silently, until the last guard leaves.

“Sooooo,” Adora begins. “now that we had our share of aaaaabsolutely not embarrassing teasing, what about you?” She asks, looking at Bow and Glimmer.

“What do you mean?” Glimmer answers feigning ignorance.

“Riiight,“ Catra starts, copying Adora’s tone. “We toooootally did not see a kiss after we won, right before you two joined us to talk about bringing the magic to the universe.”

“Can we not talk about it?” Glimmer asks, seemingly more bothered than embarrassed. Bow is frowning slightly.

“Is it a problem if we talk about it?” Adora asks after exchanging a glance with Catra, unsure if they should tease them any further, as their reactions are quite different than they expected. “I know I’m the one who let the cat out of the bag for Catra and I, but you did tease us a lot about it?”

“It’s kinda different for us, you know, with my position?” Glimmer answers, not sure how to go about it with a now nervous Bow, unusually silent, beside her.

“I’m She-Ra, lots of people might bother me about it too.”

“I’m… _queen_!” Glimmer is speaking quietly, as if the word can not leave the room. But as she sees Adora not understanding where this is going, even though Catra is starting to laugh, a bit faster to get it, she carries on still quietly. “If we are together, while I’m the _queen_ , there are a lot of changes to consider!”

“Oh. Oh! Right!” Adora says, slightly ashamed of her obliviousness.

“King Bow!” Catra exclaims, putting the effort to be very quiet, but her laugh erupts loudly after she theatrically bows to him.

“But you’ve been together for so long, everyone kinda expects it to happen, doesn’t it?” Adora inquires. She doesn’t know exactly how long they’ve been _together_ but there was some action on the ship, back from Catra’s rescue, that’s certain. And with how close they are, people would talk anyway.

“Rumours and expectations are fine, but if friends start talking about it, it’s a problem if it’s not official. And before making it official, there’s a lot of work and diplomacy to do. And we still haven’t had the time to properly talk about it between us!” Glimmer concludes. She looks at Bow who turns his head away, grinning in a mix of happiness, nervousness and embarrassment. “So please wait until then.” She adds for good measure.

Catra is still laughing. Adora starts to grin at the prospect of making fun of them in the future because of it, and seeing Catra having fun makes her heart feel warm. They finish their meal before heading to their rooms. There is one last task for queen Glimmer to do.

On their way, Glimmer, who has regain a bit of energy, is chatting with Catra, mostly exchanging silly knowledge about Adora. They stop before a well known door. Adora hesitates, suddenly fearing to find her room in ruins, but Bow made sure both rooms were fine. As she opens the door timidly, Glimmer enters abruptly, dragging Catra inside.

“Your new room, ta-da!” Glimmer lights up, and starts to present the room in the same way she did with Adora the first time. “Vanity, bathroom, crystals, bell pull, not working right now,” Glimmer shrugs slightly before beaming again. “tea nook, more crystals, bed,” She winks at Catra. “desk, and a waterfall!” She ends in a grand gesture. She earns a small laugh from Adora who seems to appreciate to relive the memory.

“There’s a waterfall in your room?” Catra asks after turning to Adora.

“Yeah, jealous?” Adora teases, grinning.

“Well, no, you know, water.” Catra answers plainly, but the majesty of the room is getting to her. She looks around again. She’s not really fond of the luxury of it, but it’s still… big. Bigger than any room she took as commander in the Horde. Her gaze stops on the bed. “Wait. Isn’t that bed, like, too simple?”

“Pfff ahah, yeah, Adora switched it soon after arriving. She couldn’t fall asleep in a _real_ bed.” Glimmer answers between two laughs. She sees Catra staring at the waterfall again. “Can you believe Adora asked me if the waterfall was for showering?”

“Seriously?!” Catra laugh echoes loudly.

“Do you have to tell her about that?” Adora says, fake-pouting.

“Absolutely!” Both Glimmer and Catra answer in sync after exchanging a glance.

A small yawn escapes Glimmer’s mouth, and after a look at Bow, practically sleeping where he stands, she shakes him awake gently and starts to leave. “I really need my own bed now. Good night! And if you have any questions, ask them tomorrow...” She adds, yawning deeply this time.

After exchanging goodnights, Catra and Adora are soon left alone. Catra is still pacing the room, exploring a little, as Adora looks around to ascertain that everything is in order after her absence.  
Catra plays curiously with the fancy tea set, tapping it gently with a claw, then opens the desk’s drawers, checks the crystals.

“Come on Catra, don’t dig in too much.”

“Oh, Why? Is there secrets I’m not supposed to know about?” Catra answers playfully.

“Not really, but,” Adora sighs heavily. “last time I was here, we weren’t really on friendly terms, so there might be some plans or reports against you laying around.” She sits on the side of the bed. “Not really the mood I wanted right now.” She hugs her knees. 

Catra stops and walks to her. “You don’t have to worry about it now.” She sits next to Adora, embracing her from the side. “We’ll clean up all that tomorrow if that makes you feel better.” With Adora’s head snuggled against her chest, she begins to purr. “You’ve been staying in that big fancy room for all this time?”

“Yeah, mostly. Except for a few field trips including camping, and since Prime’s invasion.”

“So, did you do it?” Catra asks, her eyes on the waterfall again.

“What?” Adora answers, not able to follow Catra’s gaze with her head against Catra’s chest.

“Showering in the waterfall!”

“No?”

“Why not?”

“I’m not breaking all the rules just for the sake of it like you!”

“I don’t know what you mean!” Catra says grinning.

“Please don’t make Glimmer hate you. You seem to get along well with her.”

“Yeah, jealous?”

“No. Maybe. But it’s good for you.”

“It’s not!” Catra defiantly retorts. “Okay, it is. But it’s still annoying when someone points out they know better than myself what’s good for me, okay?”

“Okay.” Adora raises her head and plant a short kiss on Catra’s lips. “Then, are we doing it? The waterfall, I mean. Not that I wouldn’t want…” Adora starts to mumble as she blushes.

Catra lets herself drop to the bed on her side. “You remember when we sometimes snooped around to spy on some... nighty action between cadets?”

“Yeah! We stumbled upon some… interesting stuff.” Adora answers, dropping herself facing Catra. “Even that time when Lonnie-”

Catra stops her with a finger to her lips. “We don’t need to talk about other people.”

“Oh, you are jealous! But you started it!” Adora exclaims joyfully.

“I’m no-” Catra stops herself. “It took me a beating to death, you saving me, and people talking to me to understand. You wanted to be friend with everyone. I only had you. I was only _allowed_ to have you. Shadow Weaver made sure of it. She would have killed me if I ever wanted more. More friends, or more you. When you make me jealous, I’m still reminded of it, of her. It hurts.”

“I’m sorry. I really was blind. I never understood how bad, how different things were for you.”

“Don’t. You didn’t do anything wrong. You tried to protect me! It’s all on her. And now we can forget about it.” Catra intervenes before Adora’s thoughts start spiralling out of control.

“Then, why did you bring up our nighty spying expeditions?” Adora asks, shifting the subject, but still curious.

“I was just trying to make you talk about it,” Catra hides her face behind her hands. “You know, if you ever thought of, wanting to do that with someone like me. I know my body is different.”

Adora jolts up. “You care about that?”

“We only ever saw two humans do those things, and you never really answered when I teased you about it, and you know my fur gets all weird when wet, and the claws-” Catra’s blushing furiously, but she needs to know. She’s looking at Adora through the gaps between her fingers.

“I never thought about it!” Adora exclaims. But as she sees disappointment and sadness upon Catra’s face, she understands she needs to clarify. “I mean, the fur, your body. I never ever imagined anyone else. I never thought about you being different, I just thought about you being you. I like your cute ears and tail, I like your smooth fur, I like those big eyes.” Adora pulls Catra’s hands away from her face. “I love you, all of you!”

“Hrrrrfff!” Catra growls as she snuggles her head against Adora. “I feel like I’ve become all soft and emotional since you saved me.”

“I didn’t dwell too deeply on it at the time,” Adora starts, gently stroking Catra’s cheek. “but I thought that maybe, if we did both rise in rank enough to ignore Shadow Weaver… actually you might not know, because you weren’t really sociable, but one of the perks of Force Captains being having their own private rooms… let say there was a lot of different talks about it?”

“Don’t act all haughty on me now!” Catra retorts. She sits up next to Adora and lets her head drop upon the princess’s shoulder. “I love you too.”

“Sooooo,” Adora begins, grinning widely, so widely that Catra doesn’t need to see her face to know it. “What about you? Did you ever thought about… things to do with me?”

“I tried very hard not to, because, Shadow Weaver, but there was only you for me anyway.” Catra’s voice becomes a whisper. She blinks. “But the mood is way too heavy again right now! I need something funny, or silly!” She notices Adora staring at something. “Oh no. No no no. No water!”

“Come on, Catra! It will be funny _and_ silly!” Adora smirks, jumping on her feet. In an instant, she discards her clothes to the floor and lets her hair loose. Standing in the moon light, in her grey underwear, she extends a hand to Catra.

“What about not breaking rules?” Catra tries to argue obstinately.

“I’m pretty sure there isn’t even one against showering in the waterfall! Probably.” Adora answers still grinning. 

Finally Catra sighs and takes her hand. Adora pulls her up, and starts walking to the waterfall while Catra undresses. Adora winces as she puts an arm under the cold water. Catra takes a moment to appreciate the sight. Adora is nearly naked under the water, while dim lights outline every muscles of her trained body. Catra hesitates after feeling the cold water. Adora opens both of her arms. 

“Catra defeated by Bright Moon’s waterfall!” Adora taunts.

Catra jumps forward, and Adora catches her in a tight hug. She still hates water, but the gap between the cold water and Adora’s warm body is strangely delightful. She raises both arms around Adora’s neck, and pulls them together in a kiss. Her thoughts freeze, stuck between the chill on her head, the warmth against her chest, Adora’s hand on her back, and the fire on her lips. They stay that way, Adora’s hands exploring Catra’s back while Catra’s hands are toying with Adora’s hair, until Catra starts to shiver from the cold. As soon as Adora senses it, she slowly backs away from the waterfall. But with the slight breeze brushing against Catra’s wet fur, shiver turns to quiver. Their lips part at last, regretfully, and after a look in each other’s eyes, they make their way to a fancy cabinet.

After taking off their underwear and rolling themselves up in fluffy towels, they return to the bed. Catra’s short hair is nearly dry already, so Adora lets herself plop down cross-legged in the middle of the bed, while Catra sits behind her, a smaller towel in hands to dry her longer hair.

They can’t remember how many times they did that in the past. Since Catra’s previously long messy hair required attention to dry properly, there usually was a hair-drying time after the showers. Not to mention, that was the main reason Catra would shower, instead of washing herself with a brush and a wet towel. The prospect of Adora’s hands kneading her scalp and touching her hair was just too tempting even if it means braving a flow of water. And also, no underwear in the shared showers.

“Why did we keep our underwear???” Catra asks suddenly realising the oddity of it. “We’ve seen each other naked since forever.”

“I forgot to check if we could be seen from another room’s window.” Adora answers with a nervous laugh.

The shake of it makes her towel open slightly on the front. Catra, on her knees, slightly above Adora to more easily dry her hair, notices the alluring view down to Adora’s breasts. As much as they know each other’s body, that kind of sight, after all that happened, after so long apart, with the new strength of their relationship, is simply too good and Catra can’t prevent an exquisite hum to escape her lips.

Adora notices it and swiftly turns around, making her towel fall down from her shoulders. “Like what you see?” She asks but fails to maintain her confidence as her smile turns into a nervous grin.

“You’re such an idiot. But I do like it.” Catra answers, straddling Adora’s laps, hands on her shoulders.

Catra takes a little time admiring Adora’s body, before she closes the distance and presses their lips together. Catra’s hands find their way to the side of Adora’s neck, her fingers stroking and fondling the skin where they go. Adora grabs Catra’s back under the towel and starts to caress the soft fur slowly. Catra’s hands sink into Adora’s hair. That sends a pleasant shiver throughout the princess’s body, who pull on Catra’s back to bring them even closer together. In a delighted moan, Catra opens her mouth slightly and lets her tongue wander along Adora’s lips, which soon part to let it meet her own tongue. After a few instant of intense emotions, tongues struggling fiercely, they slowly relax and take their time to fully appreciate the kiss, stroking, fondling each other’s tongue in turn, chuckling slightly at their clumsiness. The warmth from being pressed against Adora and the protective feeling of the two strong arms around her back makes Catra purr. As they calm down, the fatigue of the long day starts to come back to them. As soon as they pull apart, Catra buries her face in Adora’s neck. In the silence of the night, the only sound Adora can hear is the soft rumbling of Catra’s purr, and her own heartbeat.

Adora not really sure of herself, stuck between tiredness and simple bliss, resolves herself to ask Catra. Benefice of knowing two wives, drilling in her how important communication is for a new couple. “Should we stop for tonight?”

“Can you hear it?” Catra whispers in her neck.

“Your purr?” Adora hesitates.

“Mm.” Catra nods, gathering her courage to answer honestly since Adora made the effort to ask. “That means I’m comfy, calm and relaxed, only wanting to peacefully cuddle close and snuggle with you.”

Adora lays both of them down gently, covering them with towels and quilt.  
Catra nestles against Adora.  
Adora curls up around Catra.  
Both lulled to sleep by the sound of Catra’s purr.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! All my She-Ra works are related, [check my main serie for more informations!](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056884)
> 
> Please do share your thoughts in the comments!


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